A former executive at cryptocurrency firm FTX pleaded guilty on Tuesday to conspiracy and wire fraud as part of a cooperation agreement with U.S. prosecutors setting their indictment against the founder of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, in what authorities consider one of the biggest frauds in history.
Nishad Singh, the company’s former chief technical officer, is the third person to plead guilty in the case, prosecutors said.
Singh, 27, faces up to 75 years in prison if he does not cooperate fully, which would involve giving evidence in any trial.
Singh’s statement “underscores once again that the crimes committed at FTX were of great magnitude and great consequence,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.
“They rocked our financial markets with a multi-billion dollar fraud. And they corrupted our politics with tens of millions of dollars in illegal campaign donations,” using other people’s money, Williams said. “These crimes call for swift and precise justice, and that is exactly what we seek in the Southern District of New York.”
Last week, prosecutors added new fraud charges against Bankman-Fried, who pleaded not guilty. They raised the prison sentence Bankman-Fried could face if convicted, from 115 to 155 years, and detail a fraud that the government says occurred from 2019 to November 2022.
While awaiting trial, Bankman-Fried is residing with his parents in Palo Alto, Calif., on $250 million bail.
He is accused of stealing billions of dollars from FTX customer deposits to prop up the company he founded, a cryptocurrency exchange affiliated with virtual asset hedge fund Alameda Research.
He is also accused of illegally funding speculative investments and diverting client deposits to charitable donations, as well as spending tens of millions of dollars on illegal campaign donations to Democrats and Republicans in an effort to buy influence over cryptocurrency regulation in Washington.